If We Kissed
by TinkerBellTing
Summary: Post DH everything remains basically true except Hermione and Ron don't work out and when she doesn't know what to do with her life, Hermione gets a tip from an unlikely source, Charlie Weasley, that changes her life...
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I basically wrote this because I love the Charlie/Hermione idea and there aren't enough stories for them out there. I wrote what I wanted to read mainly, and I own absolutely nothing to do with Harry Potter it's JK's!, and the song used for the title and throughout the story is by Fiona Apple and it's called "if we kissed".

It's funny how few things in life go according to plan. Hermione Granger, now 24, was struck randomly by this thought as she made her bed early one morning. If you had told her five years ago that she would be in Romania, playing with dragons, she would have laughed in your face.

For years Hermione had been sure that she and Ron were meant to be; it's funny how wrong that turned out. After the final battle, Ron and Harry went directly to Auror training while Hermione returned with Ginny to Hogwarts to get their N.E.W.T.S. With Hermione at Hogwarts, she and Ron didn't see much of each other. Plus aside from Auror training, Ron was putting in over time to help out George in the Joke Shop which meant that he scarcely had any free time. This on top of the fact that Hermione had been rightfully selected as Head Girl by the new Headmistress, Professor McGonagall, and had studying to do for her N.E.W.T.S. ensured that their visits were few throughout the year.

Although after the war, studying seemed a tad less important to Hermione, she still obtained the highest N.E.W.T. score since Albus Dumbledore himself, and had job offers pouring in from every department of the new revolutionized Ministry of Magic, under Kingsley Shacklebolt, and took a job in the Department of Magical Creatures.

Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione had all moved in together after the girls had finished Hogwarts. Ginny had been drafted by the Holyhead Harpies as a chaser, making the boys a tad jealous that she ended up playing professional Quidditch, but they reconciled it by the fact that they were practically running the Auror Department. A few months into this arrangement, things began to get strained between Ron and Hermione. Harry and Ginny had started sharing a room and sleeping together but Hermione wasn't ready to take that step with Ron.

After more than a year together, and telling each other they loved each other nearly as long, Hermione couldn't figure out what was wrong, but fortunately Ron didn't pressure her and they continued to live as they had been until Christmas of that same year. The Christmas when her world was turned upside down and everything changed forever.

Flashback

The Burrow was full of life again, this Christmas being the second one since Fred had passed, so there was slightly less tension than the year before, although his stocking still hung and he was still remembered and talked of by all. The entire family was in attendance, along with its new additions.

Bill and Fleur were there with their seven month-old daughter, Victoire; Percy had brought home his fiancé, Audrey, to introduce her to the Weasley clan traditions; George had invited Angelina, Fred's ex and George's semi-new girlfriend; Harry and Ginny were together of course, and Hermione knew that Harry was planning on proposing the next day; Hermione and Ron were together still although both were starting to have their doubts; Charlie had come home from Romania for the holiday, single as always; Andromeda, Tonks' mom, had brought her grandson, Teddy Lupin over for the festivities; and of course, Molly and Arthur were there, happy to have the whole family, sans Fred, back together again.

The night went fantastically. Dinner was amazing and although the house was slightly quieter without Fred around, Mrs.Weasley simply turned her attention to the new babies in the house when she needed some cheering up. After dinner, most retired to the living room for eggnog, or firewhiskey and stories, Andromeda took Teddy home, and Hermione went for a stroll outside.

Sitting in the backyard near the pond, Hermione jumped a little when she heard the crunching of footsteps behind her. Startled, she turned to see Charlie Weasley standing there, a big grin of satisfaction on his face.

"Scared ya, didn't I?" He said playfully as he sat down next to her.

Hermione chuckled a bit, "Yeah, you definitely got me," she paused, "it's strange to not have to be on guard all the time, I guess I'm still getting used to all the changes."

Charlie's face softened, "Surviving a war changes a person, I wouldn't doubt if that feeling never fully goes away."

"Are you trying to make me feel better?" Hermione mused.

Charlie laughed a bit and said, "Sorry… so what has got you away from the festivities tonight? Shouldn't you be snogging inappropriately on the couch with Ron in front of the entire family like Harry and Ginny?"

Hermione looked a bit uncomfortable and decided not to broach the subject of her and Ron's relationship with his second oldest brother, "Can I tell you a secret?"

Charlie looked intrigued and nodded, "Of course!"

"Okay, well you have to promise that you won't freak out or react any way until it is an appropriate time to do so," Hermione waited for Charlie to confirm this promise and then continued, "Thank god, I've been keeping this in for weeks and it's killing me."

Charlie laughed and moved a tad closer, as if whispering were necessary for such a secret.

"About a month ago, Harry asked me for some advice," Hermione paused to hold the suspense, "advice about rings."

Charlie's whole face lit up, "REALLY? Is he doing it tomorrow morning?"

Hermione smiled at his reaction; admiring the affection he had for his little sister and clearly happy to know that her dream was finally coming true.

"I believe so… but you can't tell anyone before then okay?" Hermione looked him right in the eye, "Harry will kill me."

"So Ron doesn't know yet?" Charlie asked, surprised at Hermione's negligence to tell Ron such a juicy bit of news.

"Honestly?" Hermione pondered for a second how to word what it was she wanted to say, "Ron has grown up loads since last year and since the war and stuff, but I'm still not sure how he'd feel if he knew that his best mate was going to marry his baby sister. I figured that it'd be easier if he found out with the rest of the crowd, makes it harder for him to get mad at Harry if he sees how happy it will make Ginny and everyone else in your family first."

Charlie laughed a little at how well Hermione knew his little brother.

"Wow you really understand him, don't you?" Charlie replied, and then added, "Does this mean we should expect another engagement soon?"

Hermione shifted uncomfortably, looked down, and didn't really respond.

Seeing he had struck a cord Charlie quickly added, "Sorry Hermione I was just playing."

"No it's not your fault, I guess the whole commitment thing with Ron is just sort of a sore subject these days," Hermione said as she looked off into the night.

A door opened behind them and Ginny yelled out, "Hermione it's girl talk time, GET YOUR ASS IN THIS HOUSE!" Giggling as her mother lectured her for her foul mouth, Ginny closed the door.

Charlie and Hermione laughed and got up.

"Hey Charlie," Hermione took a breath, "I'd appreciate it if you kept what I just told you about Ron to yourself."

"Of course Hermione, I wouldn't have said anything anyways," Charlie paused, deciding to have a shot at making her smile one more time, "Now, tell me, what's a better surprised face for when Ginny and Harry get engaged tomorrow?" Charlie put his hands to his cheeks and opened his mouth, similar to the kid on Home Alone, "This?"

Hermione laughed, and thought, 'who knew Charlie Weasley could be cute?'

"Or," Charlie paused, took his wand out and pointed it at his hair, seconds later it was all standing on end and he was wearing a shocked expression, "this?"

Laughing hard now, Hermione responded, "Maybe you should just sleep through the morning tomorrow if you _have_ to look one of those ways to be surprised."

Trying to look offended, Charlie fixed his hair and they began walking back towards the house. Steps away from the door, Hermione stopped and turned to him.

"What do you do when it all gets to be too much? And the things you thought you wanted aren't right anymore?" Hermione was suddenly very serious.

Charlie looked at her for a few seconds and then quietly responded with a small grin on his face, "I chase around dragons, but I wouldn't recommend that for you, it's a tad dangerous."

She smiled at his response, wishing she could love something as much as he loved his job, and they went inside.

The next morning everyone was up bright and early, and after breakfast went to the living room to open presents.

An hour or so later once it seemed that everyone had exchanged gifts; Harry stood up, and asked for their attention. Hermione grabbed Charlie's eye and winked, then looked away at Ginny and Harry.

"Well, we've all been through a lot these past few years. I know that a lot of things have changed, and I know that there have been some hard times, but I would like to believe that those days are behind us," Harry paused and pulled a box out of his pocket, and knelt down in front of Ginny, ignoring the squeal of delight he'd heard from Mrs. Weasley. "Ginny, I know we're young, and I know that it hasn't always been perfect. But I also know that every day I've spent away from you since my sixth year I have dreamt of you and our future. I have always wanted a family. Throughout my life I have been reminded of what I didn't have. I want to change that Gin, I want to have a whole life with you. I want to wake up with you every morning and go to sleep with you every night," Harry paused and wiped a tear away from Ginny's cheek, "and I want to do everything in between. So, Gin, my sweet love, will you marry me?"

Ginny looked down at him and smiled for a second, then suddenly leaned forward so they were inches a part and whispered, "YES."

There were screams of delight and congratulations throughout the room while Harry spun Ginny around. Once he put her down he the gorgeous ring on her finger and got a handshake from Arthur, and a bone crunching hug from Molly.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful, until Ron and Hermione were alone in Ginny's old room, discussing Harry and Ginny's plans.

"I can't believe it," Ron said, "I mean it's great! It's just so different, so grown-up."

Hermione shrugged, "Nothing has changed yet Ron. Ginny and your mum will definitely be taking a while to plan the wedding of the century so no worries yet."

"I guess this means they'll be moving out though," Ron paused, "means just me and you in the house."

Hermione had absolutely no desire to have this conversation; she'd been dreading this since the second she found out that Harry and Ginny would be engaged.

Ron continued, "Hermione why haven't we taken things further?"

"Further how?" Hermione knew what he meant.

"You know what I mean," Ron sighed, "We haven't even slept together and we've been together basically two years, or forever, we live in the same house even and yet it feels like we haven't touched each other in months."

Ron sat next to her on Ginny's bed and looked her in the eye.

"You're not happy are you?" Ron asked seeming so vulnerable.

"Ron, why do you love me?"

Taken aback, Ron was not expecting that question. "What do you mean? I've always loved you."

"Ron, but why?" Hermione sighed, "It feels like we're best friends and roommates. I just don't…"

Ron stood up and moved to the bed across from her.

"You just don't what?"

Hermione started to cry, not wanting to hurt him, "Ron I just don't feel it, not anymore, not like I used to."

"Hermione, do you want to be with me?"

Hermione looked away from him, out the window, stared for a few seconds trying to contain the tears in her eyes, and then back.

"Okay," Ron knew the answer. He stood, walked to her, kissed her one last time, and replied, "Hermione, we are still always going to be best friends. I will still love you no matter what, but if you aren't happy, then I understand."

Ron was at the door, about to leave when he heard Hermione behind him.

"Ron…" she said quietly, "I do love you, I just don't think that I'm in love with you." After another sob she added, "I'm sorry."

Ron smiled at her, "its okay Hermione, I think this may have been a long time coming, and at least with this honesty we can still be friends and we can both move on."

Hermione felt like she had misjudged him, he was being so mature and calm, and then it occurred to her, "you want out of this as much as I do, don't you?"

Ron didn't want to lie to her, so he didn't, "Yeah know, I always thought we were meant to be, but I think that somewhere along the way we just changed. I just don't think we're it anymore."

Hermione smiled, glad that Ron felt the same way. She stood up and gave him a huge hug, "I am so glad to hear you say that."

A/N: Okay there is much more to come, and i will post a new chapter if i get enough reviews to feel like people actually want to read this! balls in your court!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: This fic is basically entirely written, so the updates will keep coming as long as the reviews continue and thank you for the feedback! When i ended the last chapter they were still in a flashback to the burrow, this is a continuation of that...

please read and review!

thanks again!

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Ron didn't want to lie to her, so he didn't, "Yeah know, I always thought we were meant to be, but I think that somewhere along the way we just changed. I just don't think we're it anymore."

Hermione smiled, glad that Ron felt the same way. She stood up and gave him a huge hug, "I am so glad to hear you say that."

A few minutes later they wandered downstairs, giving each other one last glance before he went to the living room and she went to the kitchen.

End of Flashback

It was shortly after that night when Hermione realized that she didn't want to do the job she had been doing anymore. She started spending less time doing the paperwork and more time doing research about animals. She also moved back into her old muggle house with her parents because her and Ron were back to their disagreeing ways which actually came as a strange relief to Hermione, it meant that they could go back to their friendship. After a few months of doing a rather poor job, Hermione quit working for the ministry and threw herself into studying magical creatures which eventually grew into a focus on dragons. The passion for them grew and shortly after she had started training to be a dragon keeper at a small reserve just outside of London.

After a year or so of training, she started working with some baby dragons all by herself, getting scars and burns that she had to use a glamour on when she had performed her maid of honour duties at Ginny's wedding that following Christmas.

Flashback

Harry and Ginny's wedding was set for December 26nd; the entire Weasley clan and their significant others were due for arrival at the Burrow by the 23rd. Once they all arrived the Christmas and wedding celebrations began.

The same intimate crowd from the Christmas before was there, although George and Angelina were now engaged, Fleur was pregnant again, and Percy and Audrey had eloped. Hermione couldn't help but get excited when she thought about the prospect of talking to Charlie about dragons, now that she shared the passion he did.

At the wedding reception Charlie and Hermione were both sitting at the family table alone while every other Weasley was off dancing with their dates for the occasion. The last year had been a bit awkward between Ron and Hermione, especially when he had moved on to a nice girl from the Department of Mysteries, but Hermione was more relieved than upset that he had found happiness. As they sat in silence for a second, Charlie smiled at Hermione and a mark on her arm caught his eye.

"Hermione, if I didn't know any better I'd say that the burn on your arm came from a dragon," Charlie looked up at her eyes, and added, "I'd say a baby Chinese Fireball in fact."

"Well you'd be right Charlie," Hermione smiled at his surprised expression, and almost thought she'd wait for him to ask before explaining, but then couldn't resist telling the whole story. "Remember how I wasn't happy last year?"

Charlie nodded in response.

"Well I'm guessing that living in Romania has kept you a tad out of the loop. After Ron and I broke up, I moved out of the house and in with my parents, quit my job at the Ministry and started playing with the dragons in the area."

Charlie grinned. "My my, Hermione Granger, you pulled a Charlie Weasley."

Hermione raised her eyebrows so Charlie explained.

"Well you see, I had so many opportunities after I finished Hogwarts; I could've played professional Quidditch for god sakes, but I blew them all off to chase the beasts."

Hermione laughed, "Yeah, I guess so."

"So how far along are you in your training?"

After giving Charlie a detailed encounter of a few of her excursions, she smiled and said, "You know, we can talk about this just as easily on the dance floor."

Charlie returned her smile and took her hand and led her over to dance next to Mr. Weasley who was trying to console Mrs. Weasley because her youngest child and only daughter had just gotten married.

A few hours later, after a series of dances and many drinks, Charlie and Hermione were over by the bar. Many of guests had left and Charlie cleared his throat and said, "You know Hermione, I'm not sure if there are any spots open right now, but I bet I could find you a job on the reserve in Romania. You'll never find all the dragons we have there in London, and I'm sure we could use someone with your brains on site."

Hermione grinned, and assumed it was the alcohol talking, after all, Charlie barely knew her, "Well keep in touch Charlie, I'd love to come out there sometime even if it was just for a visit. I bet I could learn a lot from an experienced man like yourself." She hadn't meant what she said that way, but it sounded very suggestive. She blamed it on the alcohol in her system and shrugged it off when Ron came over to ask her to dance. She accepted and he took her hand and lead her out to the dance floor, leaving Charlie alone at the bar.

"So you're moving onto my big brother?" Ron said, in a playful but serious tone.

Hermione smiled and said, "Well you and Amanda looked pretty good out there on the floor all night Ronald. I think if you're moving on then I should be able to too." Realizing that she had basically just told Ron she was into Charlie, which she wasn't, she clarified, "But no, I'm not into Charlie, we've just been talking about the work I've been doing the past year or so."

Ron smiled back and told her that when she does move on he wants approval on whoever the guy is, as her best friend, not as her ex-boyfriend. Hermione smiled at the sentiment.

"Ron I barely gave you approval on things when we were together, what makes you think I'm going to give you that kind of authority now?" She joked.

Ron chuckled, "I want you to be happy Hermione."

Hermione looked him in the eye and told him honestly, "I am happy Ron."

The rest of the night was a blur of dancing, laughter, tears and singing. When Harry and Ginny finally took off the rest of the family called it a night and two days later Hermione went home to her parents house and back to work, while Charlie went back to Romania.

End of Flashback

A few months after Harry and Ginny's wedding, Hermione was still hard at work with the dragons and although she loved the camp in London, it was starting to get a little boring working with the same creatures all the time. Fortunately a foreign owl tapped on her glass window one night in the March of that year holding an invitation from Charlie to come and join their team at the reserve, and that's how she ended up where she was now, almost three years later.

That particular morning was a warm one in the eastern area of Romania, near Oradea, where the reserve was. Hermione smiled a bit as she could feel the sun through her tent and realized that if her and Charlie wanted to make it on time to the Burrow for Christmas that they had better hurry up.

Rushing out of her tent and down the trail a few sites she unzipped Charlie's tent and looked inside for him.

"Looking for me?" A voice said from outside behind her

"Man you have got to stop doing that," Hermione said after she jumped a little, and turned to see that Charlie had already been up. "Are you ready to go? We can't be late for Christmas; your mother would have a fit."

Charlie just laughed, loving that although Hermione was a sexy dragon tamer now, she was also still the same Hermione.

"Yup, the portkey is in 10 minutes so I just have to grab my rucksack then we can get yours and go."

At the Burrow, Christmas festivities were well on their way. Bill and Fleur with their two young daughters, Victoire and Dominique; Percy and Audrey; George and his fiancé Angelina; Ron and his now fiancé Mandy; Harry and a pregnant Ginny; Andromeda and Teddy; and of course Arthur and Molly were all waiting for Charlie and Hermione to arrive.

Christmas was the same as always, although this year Hermione and Charlie had gotten each other more significant gifts than past years as they had grown close over the past three months. For the first two and a half years in Romania Hermione had worked with four other keepers who were also relatively new while Charlie basically ran the camp. He hadn't ever told his parents, or anyone else in the family that he was actually running the camp in Romania so it was a surprise to Hermione when she had arrived.

Three months ago Charlie had recruited Hermione onto his team when he saw that her progress was beyond the rest. Since then they'd worked together everyday and had grown to be very close friends. Plus the added fact that every other guest in attendance was coupled off made them the only two single people around with no one else to worry about so they paid more attention to each other.

Everyone at the Burrow noticed the subtle change in Hermione and Charlie's relationship, noting the amount of inside jokes and stolen glances, but no one said anything. Christmas day the whole lot of them were eating a fancy dinner when they started talking about Ron's upcoming nuptials in March of the next year.

Hermione shifted a tad uncomfortably, not because of left over feelings for Ron, but simply because of the fact that out of all her best friends and people closest to her, Harry, Ron and Ginny, she would be the only single person in just a few months. She knew that she was being silly, 24 is not an old age by any stretch, but sometimes she did wonder what would've happened if things had turned out differently.

Not hearing the question Molly had asked because she had been lost in her thoughts, Charlie leaned over, poked her arm and said, "Mi," he smiled having got her attention, while the others noted his nickname for her, and teased, "get out of that head of yours, my mum's trying to ask you something!"

Hermione went a bit red and grinned at Charlie then turned her attention to Molly, "Sorry Mrs. Weasley, what were you saying?"

The family loved watching the interaction between the two who were so clearly oblivious of the chemistry they shared. At the clear connection Ron shifted awkwardly in his seat and reminded himself that he was getting married, and that Hermione and him were a long time ago.

"Oh I was just asking if you two were for sure coming to the wedding."

"Of course, I wouldn't miss it," Hermione smiled and then glanced at Ron who shook off his thoughts and smiled happily back.

"And should I make room for a date for you? Or are you and Charlie going together?" Molly said, way to casually with a hint of curiosity.

Charlie choked on his drink and Hermione laughed.

"Mum you can just sit us together," Charlie answered for them both once he recovered then realized what he'd implied, "Right Mi?"

"Yup," Hermione smiled again and took a slow drink, loving the reaction on everyone's faces and avoiding Ron's gaze.

"SHUT-UP," Ginny started, louder than necessary, "Are you two seeing each other?"

This got everyone's attention and Charlie and Hermione just smiled uncomfortably.

"No Gin," Hermione replied with a chuckle, and then added, "But neither of us is seeing anyone in Romania seriously enough to bring them to a wedding, so instead of having to sit between a bunch of couples we'd rather just sit with each other."

It seemed as if the entire family let out a breath at once, as if they'd been waiting in suspense for an answer for two days. Charlie laughed to himself at the thought, and then realized that she had only said they weren't seeing anyone, SERIOUSLY, enough to bring to a wedding. Did this mean that Hermione was seeing someone he didn't know about?

Hermione seemed to read his mind and whispered in his ear once the attention had turned back to Ron's wedding plans, "No Charlie, I haven't been seeing anyone since last year when Julian and I broke up."

Hermione had started seeing a fellow dragon trainee the year before, after her second year landmark in Romania had been celebrated by a night of partying at the local bar and had loosened her up enough to make a mistake. The mistake wasn't too large- although she had lead Julian on fairly badly- and they'd only gone on a few dates before she realized that just because she had been single for a couple years wasn't a good reason to start dating someone she wasn't attracted to.

Charlie felt strangely relieved. Then he realized how much he cared if she was going to see another guy. When she and Julian had gone on their few dates it didn't really bother him because he knew them both and knew they'd never work, plus him and Hermione hadn't been as close then as they'd gotten in the past few months. He thought for a second and then asked himself seriously if he had developed feelings for the young Miss Granger.

Throughout the rest of dinner and dessert Charlie was quiet, stuck in his own thoughts. Fortunately, Hermione was being distracted well by Ginny, Mandy and Fleur's attempts at trying to get her to date. He only heard bits of the conversation.

"Oh so you know a lot of guys in Romania then?" Hermione said sarcastically.

Ginny's eyes lit up, "Well what if we find you a nice guy here, then you could come back!"

"Yeah Gin I'm going to change my entire life for a guy, that sounds exactly like me." Hermione was smiling so everyone knew she was taking their suggestions light-heartedly, and Charlie was glad that she had made it clear she didn't want to leave Romania.

Towards the end of the evening hugs were given out and goodbyes were said to those who were leaving- Percy and Audrey, Andromeda and Teddy, and Bill and Fleur with their daughters. Charlie and Hermione were staying another day and were happy to have a break.

That night everyone had gone to bed and Hermione and Charlie sat up, wide awake in his room. They were sitting on different beds, where they had slept, and were having a strangely intense conversation for most people but a pretty regular occurrence for them. Somehow they related to each other in a way that was hard to describe to another person without that person making assumptions.

"Mi," Charlie glanced over at her, "how do you really feel about Ron getting married?" He saw her hesitance to answer and added, "It just seemed like at dinner you weren't as stoked as you might have liked others to believe."

Hermione loved that Charlie could read her so well but hated it at the same time; she could never hide anything from him.

"No one else could tell right?" She smiled sadly.

Charlie reached over and took her hand, "No I think I may have been the only one at the table that can read you like that."

'And in the world,' Hermione thought to herself before answering. "Well it's not that I'm not happy for Ron, I am. It's more like, my three best friends growing up, the three people who used to be the most important people in my life will now all be married and here I am totally single without any prospects."

"You're 24 Mi; you could still get married within the next six years and have sixty years with whomever you marry. Just because they got married young doesn't mean you have to," Charlie smiled, "I mean look at me! I'm 32 and I'm still single and it doesn't upset me." 'Or at least it didn't until now,' Charlie added silently to himself.

"Yeah I know and that's great for you but I think it's different for-"

Charlie cut Hermione off, "a girl?"

Hermione nodded.

"It's only different if you want it to be Mi. You have already paved a different road for your life than anyone saw coming. You've done extraordinary things in the years you have lived and you're always going to do more, it's just in your nature. It doesn't matter if you're single now while everyone around is getting married because you are an absolutely amazing, beautiful, intelligent, sexy, and dangerous woman and you will one day be totally happy."

Hermione blushed a little at Charlie's compliments then bit her lip and looked up at him and barely whispered, "Promise?"

Charlie laughed and leaned over to kiss her cheek, "promise."

There was a strange tension in the air after this when they both decided it was time for bed. They said good night somewhat awkwardly and shared a quick hug before getting into their beds and turning out the light.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thank you for the reviews, they're appreciated. This would've come earlier but I slept way later than I planned and then had to run to a class. The fic probably won't be unreasonably long, probably ten chapters or so unless you want more!

Disclaimer: again i own nothing, and the song in this chapter is if we kissed by fiona apple.

Anyhow, thanks again for reading, enjoy!

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The next day the awkwardness between Hermione and Charlie was gone but it had left some sort of sexual tension that they hadn't realized was part of their relationship before if it had been there. They weren't acting any differently then they normally would except now everything they did and said seemed to have a flirtatious vibe to it- and neither of them were stopping it. 

Hermione didn't really know what had come over her. In 24 hours it seemed like her brain was going crazy, not to mention the feeling in her chest and lower stomach whenever Charlie was around. She had watched a family game of Quidditch from the ground and could barely control her urges, and silently thanked god that Charlie was in the air and hadn't noticed her watching his every move. Unfortunately, the other women who weren't playing had definitely picked up on the change in Hermione's demeanor and she was subjected to a lot of relentless teasing. Their visit to the Burrow seemed like it had flown by when they left by portkey the following morning, arriving back in Romania and back in their everyday life.

Days passed and the tension never really left, if anything it was growing to be more palpable. Suddenly they didn't mind flirting in front of the others when they were off shift, and whenever they went dancing with the group of friends and co workers they had at the reserve, they always seemed to end up talking in a corner alone or on the dance floor together all night.

In mid-February, when Ron and Mandy's official wedding invitations arrived, Hermione wasn't fazed exactly, but she did feel a bit weird knowing that her former 'star-crossed love' was marrying another woman. Charlie seemed to pick up on this and so one night while they were walking back from a Ridgeback pen in early March, weeks before the wedding, he decided to do something about it.

"Hey Mi, I know you're feeling weird still about Ron getting married, so I was thinking how about instead of just going together as friends, I'll be your escort for the evening," Charlie's ears went a bit pink and quickly added, "I mean still as friends, but the entire evening I'll be at your disposal."

Hermione's heart skipped a beat and she smiled at him. She took her hand in his- not a rare occurrence these day- and replied, "Thanks Charlie, I'll be much better knowing that I have you with me all night."

Charlie raised his eyebrows suggestively and grinned making Hermione laugh, "Okay not ALL night, but you know what I meant." They shared another smile and continued holding hands until they parted for their separate tents.

Ron and Mandy's Wedding

Charlie and Hermione arrived at the Burrow a few days before the wedding, hoping to be able to visit with the family when they realized that the possibility of that was considerably unlikely. Harry was the best man and was busy between his duties to Ron and to his pregnant wife, Ginny, who at this point was getting rather snappish, and the whole family was working on last minute wedding arrangements. Hermione and Charlie helped where they could but they basically ended up hanging out together for the first day and then babysitting the kids all day the next day.

Watching Hermione with children had made Charlie smile. He watched as she helped tie their shoes and affectionately rubbed their heads. When he realized he was suddenly planning a future with her in his head, imagining their kids with her smile and his red hair. He tried to shake it off but the feelings wouldn't leave. He was most definitely in love with Hermione Granger.

Hermione was absolutely stunned to see how fantastic Charlie was with little kids. The shock probably shouldn't have been so severe because she had known that he had five younger siblings that she was sure he took care of when he had been young, and she knew he'd make a great dad one day and the thought made her very excited which was what actually had shocked her. She knew that over the past few months she had definitely developed a crush on Charlie but after seeing him with those kids she realized that it was in fact much, much more.

The next day as the hours of the afternoon ticked down to sunset, the time for the wedding had arrived. Everything had gone smoothly, and Ron was now a husband. Charlie had sat next to Hermione throughout the entire ceremony, holding her hand and making sure she felt okay. At the reception their whole family was eating together at the table and after Ron and Mandy had their first dance the party really kicked off.

An hour or so of talking to Charlie and Ginny, or listening to Ginny complain about being fat, had gone by when Charlie suddenly got up off his chair and squatted down next Hermione and whispered in her ear, "Alright Mi, how about a dance?"

Hermione's heart sped up at the feeling of his breath so close to her, then she smiled and nodded, not noticing the curious glances they were receiving from Molly and Ginny. As they made their way to the dance floor hand in hand, the song "If We Kissed" by Fiona Apple came on.

They started dancing together, looking each other straight in the eye and both noticing for the first time the lust that had filled them. Their bodies weren't quite touching but their faces were close as they smiled and giggled while joking as they danced. The two were so wrapped up in each other they didn't notice everyone not even hiding the fact that they were staring at them. About halfway through the song Hermione picked up stray lyrics and couldn't help but smile and blush a little at the irony of the song matching her thoughts.

_What would happen if we kissed?  
Would your tongue slip past my lips?  
Would you run away?  
Would you stay?  
Or would I melt into you?  
Mouth to mouth, lust to lust,  
Spontaneously combust…_

Her stomach seemed to go through the roof as her and Charlie made eye contact and stopped giggling. Suddenly it wasn't so funny anymore and they just continued to dance, bodies now touching and the heat between them absolutely undeniable. It felt as though they were the only two people in the room as they swayed in each other's arms, never breaking eye contact.

Once the song, and a few after it had ended, Charlie offered to go get refreshments and Hermione thanked him while heading back to sit down with the family.

Surprisingly it was Ron who spoke first, an incredulous look on his face, "Yeah Hermione, there's absolutely _NOTHING _going on there." His grin said it all and the others around the table were sharing it.

Hermione looked a bit startled and replied not as confidently as she had wished, "I don't know what you're talking about; there is no harm in a couple of friends sharing a few dances Ron."

The rest of the table groaned and laughed at Hermione's denial then watched as her face lit up when Charlie returned with their drinks. Hermione smiled as she noticed that Charlie had gotten her favourite drink and thanked him with a kiss on the cheek. He gave her a smile and said, "Only the best for my Mi!" which made Hermione blush a little.

A couple hours later Ron and Mandy were saying goodbyes to everyone and heading off to their hotel for the night before they left on their honeymoon. Once they were gone, it was another hour or so before the wedding guests who weren't staying at the Burrow had cleared out. They opted to leave the clean up for the next day as the ceremony and it's festivities had tired them all out so everyone went upstairs to get ready for bed, when Hermione wandered into the kitchen for a cup of tea.

Molly came in a few minutes later and saw Hermione standing by the sink, tea cup in hand as she stared out the window at the arch where Ron had taken his vows that evening. Molly noticed where she was looking and said to Hermione quietly, "Hermione dear, I know that today might've been hard for you," being aware that Hermione and Ron had split amicably, but knew that sometimes feelings came up at the worst of times, "but you didn't show it and you let Ron have a really great day so thank you."

Hermione was a bit startled at the inquisition but replied quickly, "Oh no, Mrs. Weasley it really isn't hard to see Ron happy. I'm really glad he found someone that he loves completely, it's a rare thing." Hermione thought that would suffice but Molly continued to gaze at her in an annoyingly great motherly way, "I mean, now that I know how it feels to really be in love, I know that Ron and I never had it at all, we were just best friends who mistakenly thought we were meant for more." Hermione smiled without realizing what she had implied.

Molly barely looked surprised but had to ask, "What exactly do you mean dear?"

Hermione didn't really want to have this conversation, but knowing that Molly wouldn't give up she gazed into the distance and quietly continued, "Well Ron and I always cared for each other but it wasn't a romantic love. I know how it feels to _really _be in love now so I'm certain that I wasn't with Ron."

Molly raised her eyebrows and looked amused at Hermione's slip, "Oh do you?"

Hermione flushed a deep red when she realized what she had said and her eyes started darting around the room, as if looking for an escape. Never admitting to yourself that you love someone and then accidentally telling his mother was an event that she had hoped to avoid her whole life, but now that plan was out.

"Well I mean-"

She stopped when Molly put her arm around her and said quietly, "Don't worry Hermione, it'll be our little secret."

Hermione smiled and barely got a thank you out when Charlie came into the kitchen talking. "Mi, I just put your stuff upstairs for you and I-"

He stopped when he saw the position his mum and Hermione were in, "What's going on?"

Molly released Hermione and replied, "Oh nothing Charlie, just catching up with the daughter I never see anymore."

Hermione smiled at the comment and gave Molly a hug.

"We'll talk again soon dearie," Molly said in a knowing voice, as she made her way towards the stairs, "Night you two, and don't stay up all night."

As she left Charlie turned to smile at Hermione.

"I put you in with me again. I know that there's probably room somewhere else but I figured that…" Charlie stopped when he saw Hermione gazing at him with a passion in her eyes.

"That sounds perfect Charlie," Hermione paused before sheepishly looking away and then back him to add, "Right with you, just where I want to be."

They shared a smile, Charlie took her hand and they walked upstairs together to go to bed.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Here's another installment, i hope you all enjoy it, please read and review!!!

disclaimer: again i own nothing.

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**The Next Morning**

The entire Weasley family and guests were in the kitchen eating breakfast the morning after the wedding.

"Okay kids, I'm off to work," Arthur said as he stood up from the table and kissed Molly goodbye.

They all said their goodbyes to Mr. Weasley and watched him apparate to the Ministry. Once he left the conversations went back to their usual volume while Charlie and Hermione talked quietly at one end of the table. Charlie finally nodded in to agree with something and they looked up from their own world to find the rest of the family looking curiously in their direction.

"Okay guys, I'm sorry to tell you this but Hermione and I are going to leave for Romania later today."

"WHAT?!" Ginny was the first to respond, "I thought you were going to stay for the week!" Ginny complained, "Hermione we haven't even gotten a chance to really hangout yet."

Molly stayed quiet and smiled to herself; she knew exactly why they were leaving early. The night before she had gotten up to use the bathroom and heard voices in Charlie's room. She didn't want to intrude, but she couldn't help herself so she listened at the door for a few minutes.

**Flashback, the night before**

Charlie was lying in bed completely awake, hours after turning off the lights. He heard Hermione roll over a few times and knew she was awake too and finally couldn't take it anymore.

"Mi?" he questioned quietly, in case he was wrong.

"Are you still up too?" Hermione said in a voice he could tell had a grin behind it. Charlie smiled, thankful he hadn't been alone in the battle with his thoughts.

"Yup," Charlie rolled over and stood up and sat on her bed, "move over, I want in."

Hermione giggled, "I'm not that easy Mr. Weasley."

Charlie went a bit red at her insinuation, he had meant just to talk; they had slept in the same bed before- just as friends.

Once she had stopped laughing at Charlie's embarrassment, Hermione moved over and Charlie moved in next to her.

"You better hope your mum doesn't catch us like this. We won't even get time to explain before we're chopped into little bits," Hermione mused.

"Mi, you're 24 and I'm 32, I think it's a bit late to be trying to protect us from having sex," Charlie joked back.

Hermione's laughter died off and she grew semi-serious for a second, considering whether she should tell him or not. After a few minutes of silence she decided there was no harm in telling him the truth and responded, "Well maybe you Charlie, but I am as pure as the day I was born."

Charlie was surprised, "What? Really?"

"Well maybe not quite as pure as then, but I am a virgin," Hermione chuckled a bit with a hint of sadness.

"Okay you're going to have to explain to me how a girl who was in a relationship for two years, living with a guy, and is as sexy as you are hasn't had sex," Charlie said this playfully the curiosity in his voice was evident.

"I wasn't in love with Ron, Charlie," Hermione said quietly after a couple seconds, "And after that my life changed so much I never really got any opportunity and I didn't really want to waste myself on meaningless guys."

"No that totally makes sense, I'm just surprised I guess" a brief pause then Charlie questioned quietly, "but you've done other stuff right?"

"Do you _seriously _want me to go into detail about the sexual explorations I may or may not have taken part in with your littlest brother?" Hermione giggled, loving the reaction she got from Charlie.

"Okay," Charlie grimaced, "let's just forget for a second that it's my brother we're talking about. What have you done?"

"Honestly? Next to a fairly heated snog once or twice I am relatively inexperienced," she responded, suddenly feeling very self conscious, "is that a bad thing?"

Charlie felt her insecurity, "Mi, you have no idea how not bad at all that is, if anything it just makes you sexier because you're already so sexy without even scratching the surface of that part of your nature. However I am very relieved to hear that you and –him- didn't do much." Charlie was thankful it was dark, if not she'd be able to see just how red he was.

"Oh yeah?" Hermione teased and poked his chest, "And why is that?"

"Well it's simple really," Charlie leaned over her, with a confidence he didn't know was in him, "if you had done a lot of stuff with him, I would feel at least a little bit weird about being totally completely into you and doing this."

Hermione barely had a chance to smile and react before Charlie leaned down and kissed her, passion erupting like a fireball between them. Hermione quickly reacted and grabbed his head, running her fingers through his hair that had been teasing her for months. This was the part of Charlie's nature that she loved; he wasn't scared of going after something he really wanted, not shy like a little boy but confident like a man.

After a heavy few minutes they released each other and Charlie rested his forehead on Hermione's forehead. Both breathing rather deeply, with silly grins on their faces they opened their eyes and met each others.

Charlie moved down and rested his head on her chest while they caught their breath and continued their conversation.

"Okay, now that you know all of my history I want to know yours; especially if we're heading down this road," Hermione started the conversation again as she continued to run her hands through his hair.

"And what road would that be Miss. Granger?" Charlie said playfully as he started kissing her neck.

Hermione's response was to lean his face up and kiss him passionately but briefly.

"Ah, the road of love, I see now," Charlie grinned and kissed her forehead. "Okay, you want to know my 'number'?" Hermione nodded. "Three."

"Aren't you 32?" Hermione didn't want to make fun, but it was peculiar that a sexy hot dragon tamer of 32 could only have slept with three people.

"Ouch," Charlie grinned, knowing that Hermione hadn't meant any offense but wanting to give her a hard time anyways, "Well my first was a relationship that lasted about four years before we figured out we weren't right for each other and then I got so into work I forgot about the other stuff for awhile and then when I was about 27 there was a girl who I sort of just… you know… every couple weeks- not really a relationship or anything, but we just sort of took care of each others needs for about 10 months, and then sadly I did the male thing of having a one night stand once when I turned 30 and was depressed about being single at 30. I always imagined that I'd be married with a bunch of kids by then."

Hermione had a small smile on her face, she felt less bad about her lack of experiences now. Charlie took her face in his hand and continued.

"Honestly Mi, I'm not usually the type of person that can't get a girl out of my head or falls totally and completely, but you are changing me," Charlie looked her in the eye now, and she knew he was sincere. "I don't even know when it happened, one day I was totally happy being single forever and then you walked into my life."

"I know what you mean," whispered Hermione, "I have to admit that I may have seen myself with a Weasley when I was young, but I certainly didn't imagine the life I have now. You are just everything I've ever wanted and needed, I don't really understand how that could even happen without me being aware."

"Oh yes, you're usually so on top of things," Charlie mused, making a laugh come from Hermione, then his face then grew more serious, "But Mi, you need to know that I'm serious about this. I'm all in."

After a few seconds of realization Hermione replied "That's really great news because I think I was all in a long time ago," and smiled.

"I am totally in love with you," Charlie said quietly as her kissed her temple, "I'm literally trying to decide if I love you or dragons more right now. That's a big deal."

Hermione laughed and said playfully, "speaking of being on top of things," and somehow managed to move them around so that she was now straddling Charlie. She bent down to kiss him and stopped briefly before his lips and looked at his eyes.

"I am totally in love with you Charlie."

They moved together more passionately than before, finally stopping when they realized if they didn't they'd end up consummating their relationship right there.

Charlie wrapped his arms around Hermione and whispered, "Tomorrow we should go back to Romania so I can take you out for real. We need to get started on our life together Mi, we've waited long enough." He kissed her shoulder and she turned towards him.

"That sounds good to me," Hermione gave him one last kiss and they fell asleep, still tangled in each other and happier than they'd ever been.

**End of Flashback**

"Sorry Gin, Charlie and I just started talking last night and we realized how much stuff there is to be done back in Romania," Hermione pleaded, she wasn't lying- not really.

Ginny wasn't happy but accepted the news and breakfast was finished soon after. Everyone was around the house; Charlie was upstairs getting their stuff ready to go when Hermione wandered into the kitchen looking for Molly.

"Mrs. Weasley thanks for letting me stay here again, and thank you for the talk last night, it definitely brought some realizations into my life."

Molly smiled and hugged Hermione, "You're welcome here anytime Hermione, no matter what happens."

"Thanks again," Hermione smiled and went to leave when Charlie came down the stairs, not seeing his mother and picked Hermione up and spun her around.

For a second the two were so into each other that Molly had to clear her throat to get them to stop.

"Oh," Charlie went a bit red as he put Hermione down, "hey Mum."

They both stayed quiet for a couple seconds, looking at the grin on his mother's face and then Charlie reluctantly added, "Okay so we got together last night and yes we are totally in love and serious, but can you at least wait until we leave to spread the news? We want to get out of here in one piece!"

Of course she'd already known the truth, but she was glad to hear it from Charlie, and first!

She gave them both hugs and kisses on the cheek and promised to keep her lips sealed until after they left.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Okay so i was incredibly busy yesterday and i didn't get a chance to update, so this one is longer than usual. ENJOY!**  
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**disclaimer: **i own nothing.**  
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**Back in Romania**

When Hermione and Charlie arrived back at the reserve, they went to their separate quarters to get ready for their date.

After about an hour or so of stressing about what she was wearing, Hermione heard Charlie outside and knew it was time to go.

"Knock knock," Charlie said from outside Hermione's tent.

Hermione grinned and went outside, kissing him hello. Suddenly any doubts she had about her outfit were out the window and the only thing that mattered was the man in front of her. After a few minutes the kiss was rapidly turning into a snog and Charlie pulled away and rested his forehead on Hermione's.

"Okay seriously, I really want to take you out so we need to stop right now, or I will not be held accountable for my actions."

Loving the affect she had on him, Hermione giggled and agreed. They clasped hands and walked to the apparition point.

They arrived at a small romantic restaurant a few seconds later and once they were seated Hermione remembered something.

"Char, you know what I just realized?"

"What's that?"

"Today is the three year anniversary of when I first came to Romania," Hermione smiled and added, "I guess now it will be another kind of anniversary as well."

They locked eyes for a few more minutes until the waiter came over to get their order. The rest of dinner went very smoothly indeed, never running out of stuff to talk about. About ten minutes into the dinner, Hermione knew that this was meant to be when she realized that they'd basically been dating for months without actually dating. All the conversations were the same, except now they kissed on the mouth instead of the cheek or forehead.

As they walked back to their tents, Hermione voiced this thought to Charlie.

"Haven't you noticed that nothing has really changed?"

Charlie smiled and replied, "Yeah, it's kind of ridiculous that neither of us saw this coming sooner actually." Hermione returned his smile and he let go of her hand and wrapped his arm around her, holding her close.

Minutes later they had arrived outside Hermione's tent and she asked him to come in.

"Are you sure?"

Loving teasing him, Hermione pretended to look offended and said, "Now, now Charlie Weasley, just because I invited you in does not mean you're going to get any action tonight."

Charlie would probably have gone red if it was any other girl, but instead he just smiled and kissed her then he let her pull him by hand inside.

After an hour or so of lying together on her couch, Hermione thought about the day when she realized how strong the feelings she felt for him were and asked, "how many kids do you want? I know you came from a big family, is that what you would want?"

As if she felt Charlie's body jump at the question she quickly added while chuckling slightly, "I'm just curious, don't worry I'm not asking you to father my babies after our first official date."

Charlie smiled and realized that he probably wouldn't mind fathering her babies at any point in time.

"Honestly? The older I get the more kids I want," Charlie answered as he started running his hand up and down her arm, "All this work with dragons pays really well and I know that I could afford a large family and I don't think I would want my kids to grow up without the same crazy family feeling that I had," Charlie smiled while remembering the way he grew up and asked Hermione the same question. "What about you?"

Hermione smiled at his answer, it was exactly what she hoped for. "Well I'm an only child and I've always been sort of jealous of anyone who has a lot of siblings, so I guess my answer would be much the same."

They shared a smile for a second and suddenly they were really into a deep snog. As they manoeuvred themselves away from the couch and onto Hermione's bed, Charlie's shirt came off and they showed no signs of stopping.

As things heated up, Hermione's shirt had been lost as well and she was now working on Charlie's pants.

"Okay Mi," Charlie panted, "I want this more than you can possibly believe but I don't want to do anything unless you're sure."

Hermione smiled, "I am sure, but maybe we should take it easy for tonight."

Charlie nodded and started pulling away a bit.

"Where do you think you're going?" Hermione grinned.

"Well I just thought…"

Pulling him back towards her and onto the bed, Hermione said in a sultry voice, "Just because we're not having sex tonight does not mean I can't learn the other parts of my sexual nature as you so affably described it."

"Oh," Charlie and Hermione shared a smile, and he continued what he had been doing before.

**The next morning**

Hermione woke up on something hard, yet soft. As the memories of the night before flooded in she realized that she was sleeping literally on top of Charlie. Her face pressed against his chest as it moved up and down with each breath. Smiling jovially to herself, she decided to do an encore of last night and wake him up the right way.

She started kissing her way down his chest, realizing that the only thing really separating them from being totally naked was his briefs and her thong and smiled when she reached her destination.

A few seconds later Charlie opened his eyes wide and smiled at Hermione's actions.

"You really are a natural," Charlie grinned as he barely got the words out.

Hermione crawled back up towards his face and whispered, "Shush," Then she went back to work.

Later that day they received notice that they would be getting a particularly ferocious Horntail delivered the following morning and both could barely contain their excitement. That day had also brought George and Angelina's wedding invitation for May of that year which meant another trip to the Burrow.

That night they decided to go dancing at the local bar with the other keepers, who were all relieved by the fact that Charlie and Hermione had finally admitted what their relationship really was. After a night of very serious dirty dancing on the floor, to the point where they almost got kicked out of the pub, they decided it was time to leave. When they arrived back at camp, they spent another semi-innocent night together and woke up early the next morning to get ready for the Horntail.

In the late morning, just when Charlie thought he couldn't be more attracted to Hermione, he saw her working beautifully with one of the most temperamental dragons he'd ever encountered. The entire time they were trying to get the dragon into the reserve they kept catching eyes and then working even harder on the dragon.

Once they were finished they went back to their tents to clean up and then met up for dinner that night. After dinner they went back to Charlie's tent, which was a bit bigger than Hermione's, and started reading a book together. Another thing they shared was that Charlie was surprisingly well-read for a dragon trainer. Having free time with not tons to do on the reserve had made him more interested in the written word than he ever thought possible during his time at Hogwarts, but it seemed to be a thing Hermione really loved about him.

That night they fell asleep in each others arms, the book lay open on Hermione's chest, unfinished.

Over the next few weeks their relationship continued to flourish although they had not slept together. Instead they seemed to be growing more emotionally in tune with each other and never spent a night apart. A few days before they had to leave for the Burrow for George's wedding, they were heading back to Hermione's tent when Hermione stopped and turned to face him.

"Charlie, I think that we're ready for the next step."

Charlie nodded and said, "Are you sure?"

"Charlie, baby, I'm going to be 25 in like four months and the only reason I've never had sex is because before now I'd never been in love. I just know that with you I'm safe and that this absolutely could not be a mistake."

Not needing anymore encouragement, they made their way inside the tent and spent the entire night showing each other their passion.

**The next morning**

"How the hell are we going to work today?" Charlie smiled as he wrapped his arms around Hermione who was lying on his chest.

"I have no idea," Hermione replied, giggling, "Isn't the first rule of dragon keeping not to do it tired?"

"Yeah well we wouldn't BE tired if you weren't such a crazy sex goddess," smiling Charlie leaned down to kiss her head.

Hermione chuckled and started kissing his chest.

"Again?"

"Come on we have some time before we have to get out of bed, this will wake you up," Hermione said seductively.

Charlie smiled again, loving the beast he'd unlocked within her, "Well you don't really have to tell me twice."

A few days later Charlie woke before Hermione and watched her sleep for a few minutes until he realized the time and that they were going to miss their portkey for George's wedding if they didn't hurry up.

After rushing around for a few minutes getting his things together while Hermione had a shower, (she had packed the night before), they were off to the Burrow once again.

When they arrived in the backyard they made their way into the house holding hands, prepared for the teasing that would inevitably be coming their way. They gave each other one last private kiss for support and opened the back door.

Inside, the house was surprisingly calm. Angelina and Mrs. Weasley had planned the wedding so extensively that there wasn't much to be done but get married the next day so the family decided to just spend some time together.

While Teddy, Victoire, and Dominique played in the yard being supervised by Ron and Bill, the rest of the men were outside talking about Quidditch while the women were sitting around the kitchen table gossiping about all the goings-on in the wizarding world. Hermione was a bit surprised to learn how much she'd missed.

Ginny was heading upstairs to her bedroom where her and Harry were staying and motioned for Hermione to follow, so she did.

Once they arrived at the top of the stairs Ginny was as giddy as a school girl when she pulled Hermione into her room and closed the door behind them.

"Okay, tell me everything, now."

Hermione laughed at Ginny's bluntness, and decided to indulge in a little girl talk, but not without a little teasing first, "Okay you know we're talking about your brother right?"

"I'm going to chose not to care about that part right now; I just want to know that my little Hermione has finally done the deed!" Ginny was smiling proudly as Hermione blushed.

"Fine, if you must know, yes," Hermione said tentatively then added, "It actually only happened a few days ago though, despite how long we've been together."

Ginny giggled gleefully and asked for details of how their first dates went and all the other things that a young girl wants to know about her best friend.

As Hermione told Ginny about their first few dates and how they'd started sleeping together, though without sex, right away because it just felt so right to be together, Ginny got happier and happier.

"I don't know what it is Gin," Hermione then smiled, "It's like a whole new part of me woke up when I fell in love with him. He just makes me feel so good in my skin- like I could do anything."

"That is how it should feel," Ginny replied thoughtfully after a few minutes.

Hermione blushed again and asked, "Okay so how are you? You're the one that looks ready to pop and we've barely even talked about it."

Ginny went through the details of her pregnancy- including being due very close to Harry's birthday- and then hesitated a few moments before saying something else. Hermione picked up on this and asked, "What is it Gin?"

"Okay, well Harry and I were going to ask you together, but since we're talking about it," Ginny smiled at her friend and took her hand, "We want you to be godmother of our children."

Hermione smiled and felt tears in her eyes, "Oh Gin, that's wonderful, I'm honoured."

The friends hugged and the door opened revealing Harry.

"So you asked her without me huh?" Harry teased after seeing the tears on Hermione's and Ginny's faces.

Hermione laughed and walked over to give him a hug.

"Okay enough serious stuff, one of the biggest pranksters of all time is getting married tomorrow so we need to go downstairs and get some laughter going," Ginny said as she pulled the two out of the room.

The Burrow was full of family again. Each boy had gotten married at home, a tradition that Bill had started and seemed to continue after the war because of the value they put in family. The next morning when the wedding set up was complete; Hermione and Charlie could be found in his room upstairs still in bed after staying up late and sleeping in.

A knock at the door woke them up and Ron called in.

"Hey guys, it's time to get up it's already noon and the wedding is in a couple of hours," Ron said, barely opening the door to ensure that he wouldn't see anything he'd later regret.

Charlie and Hermione agreed and got out of bed then raced for the shower. Charlie beat Hermione but let her go first anyway considering it took her longer to get ready.

The ceremony was lovely. Most of the family was sitting in the audience this time as George had opted to put a large photo of Fred, that wouldn't stop smiling and winking, at the front to serve as best man instead of asking another brother. This wedding was also smaller than the rest- only family and very close friends were invited so it was an intimate affair.

Afterwards everyone was celebrating so Charlie and Hermione took the opportunity to sneak inside. After an hour or so of messing around upstairs they got ready to face the public again and were immediately questioned by Ginny as to their whereabouts. Both flushed red and Ginny backed off, clearly having the affect she'd been going after...


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Sorry this took longer than promised, I've just been really busy with school... there are probably only three more chapters or so left! please enjoy!

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The next day as Charlie and Hermione were packing to head back to Romania, when Charlie suggested, completely out of the blue, that they go and visit her parents briefly before they go.

"Why do you want to go see my parents?" Hermione asked, having had a harder relationship with them after she retrieved them from Australia. They hadn't taken kindly to being manipulated by magic by their own daughter.

"Because Mi, you only see them like once a year for a day. You never even stay the night there and I'm sure they miss you. Plus I want to meet them," Charlie smiled. Charlie could see from Hermione's face that he was winning the inner battle she was having.

"Alright I guess we can go there, but you should know that they might not take too kindly to me introducing another wizard as my boyfriend," Hermione sighed, sad at the way her parents now treated her, they had let her stay there for a year after her and Ron broke up but it had been strained and awkward in the house which just gave her more reason to leave for Romania.

"That's okay," Charlie paused, "Have you told them what you do for a living?"

Hermione cringed a little, hating to lie, "I hate lying to them so I told them that I work with magical creatures, I just never gave them details on the extent or what kind of creature it was."

"Okay, so if they ask I can just say I'm an expert on Flobberworms or something," Charlie mused, making Hermione laugh.

She walked over to him and put her arms around him, "That sounds perfect, my boyfriend the worm expert."

He kissed her and just as it was starting to heat up, they were walked in on my Molly who cleared her throat and asked for a word with them both.

"Hey you two," Molly said as they broke apart.

"Hey Mum, what's up?"

"I know you two are heading back to Romania today so I just wanted to come in and say goodbye, and tell you how happy I am for the both of you. I thought I'd do it in private to spare you anymore teasing," she smiled.

They both gave her a hug and Hermione said that she was going to say goodbye to the rest, kissing him on the cheek and leaving Charlie to talk to his mum alone.

"You really love her don't you Charlie?" Molly smiled, happy that her second eldest son, the consummate bachelor had finally found love and with a girl she adored no less.

"Yeah, I never really knew anything could feel this amazing actually," Charlie said as he sat down on his bed, "I just convinced her to let us visit her parents today before we go."

Molly knew the answer but sat down next to him and couldn't help asking, "What for?"

Charlie knew his mom was playing him from the dopey grin on her face and replied, "Well if you promise not to tell anybody, because I might not do it for a while yet, I'm going to ask her to marry me."

Molly squealed and hugged her son.

"What are you waiting for?"

Charlie looked a bit uneasy, "Well I still need to buy a ring and stuff, I just don't know when the opportunity to talk to her dad first will come again and I know that I'm going to marry her so I figured I'd talk to him now so that I can ask anytime really. It'll probably be a few more months yet though, Hermione may have changed a lot in the past few years but she would probably still be a bit hesitant to get married to someone she's only been with for a couple months."

Molly nodded, and couldn't get the grin off her face. Charlie smiled too and told his mum, "You can't tell anyone about this mum, I really need to be able to do this my own way."

Agreeing, Molly gave him one last hug before they joined everyone else downstairs to say goodbye.

They apparated to an alley near Hermione's parents house in a muggle neighbourhood and walked down the street to her house holding hands. Along the way Hermione started to tense up a bit and Charlie could tell she was getting nervous.

"Don't worry baby, it'll be okay," Charlie smiled and kissed her cheek while rubbing her back softly, giving her confidence.

She felt a bit better but not totally reassured when they got to her house and saw her parent's cars in the driveway. He put his arm around her and they made their way to the front door. Hesitating for a few seconds, Hermione knocked and took a deep breath.

When the door opened it revealed Hermione's mum who looked a bit surprised to see her daughter on her doorstep with a man who had an arm wrapped around her waist.

After the initial shock wore off, she said, "Hermione!" in an unexpectedly excited voice.

"Hi Mum," Hermione broke free from Charlie and gave her mum a hug, then turned to Charlie, "Mum this is Charlie Weasley, my boyfriend."

Charlie stuck out his hand and smiled, "Hi Mrs. Granger, it's lovely to meet you."

She took his hand and invited them in, "if you two just go into the living room I'll find your father Mione."

Charlie and Hermione took off their coats and put their rucksacks down then made their way to the living room. They sat down on the couch for a few seconds before her mum re-entered with her dad and they both stood up. Hermione gave her dad a hug which he returned and then introduced her dad to Charlie.

"Dad this is my boyfriend, Charlie Weasley," Hermione smiled as the two shook hands.

They all sat down and started discussing the happenings in their lives when her dad started questioning Charlie.

"So Charlie, what do you do for a living?"

"Well sir, I work with Hermione actually. We both work with magical creatures," Charlie answered.

Hermione admired the way that few things could break Charlie's calm. Some men would be nervous when talking to their girlfriend's parents but it always seemed like Charlie could talk to anyone easily.

"And how long have you been seeing my daughter?"

Hermione and Charlie looked at each other and smiled, and he answered, "Well I guess officially for about two or three months, but we've been friends for a long time and we've been really close friends for about eight months. Most people considered us a couple long before we did."

Hermione blushed a little; she wasn't used to being candid with her parents.

"So you're Ron's older brother then?" Hermione's mum asked.

"Yeah, I'm the second oldest in the family," Charlie paused for a second, "I'm 32."

Although she was a little nervous about her parents reaction to her dating a man that was almost eight years older than her, she didn't show it and they seemed to let it pass.

"Well how about some tea?" Her mum stood up, "Hermione dear why don't you help me in the kitchen and we can give these two men a few minutes to get to know each other."

Hermione gulped and agreed, then kissed Charlie on the cheek and as she followed her mum into the kitchen, she turned to Charlie knowing only he could see and gave him another smile with a wink.

In the kitchen, after she put the kettle on, her mum turned to her and asked, "So how serious is this Hermione? You haven't brought home any guys before, aside from Ron but that was different."

Hermione smiled a little, "This is very serious mum. I know it's a bit odd, but I never really loved Ron, not the way I should've, not the way I love Charlie."

Her mum smiled, "Yeah you two seem to be very confident in your relationship, that's a good thing. I don't think your father will even be able to break him."

Hermione laughed a little at her mum's comment and for the first time in a long time basked in the comfort of being in her childhood home. She turned to the counter and helped her mum put out some cookies. This wasn't near as bad as she had thought it was going to be.

"I'm sorry I don't visit more often mum, I'm really not in the area very often but George got married yesterday so Charlie and I came from Romania for it and this morning he suggested coming here to see you two since I never get to and he knows how I feel about it."

"It was his idea to come here?" Her mum asked with a curious look on her face, "that was nice of him."

"Yeah, he really knows me, and he knew that I wouldn't have asked him to meet you guys right away because of everything that happened before," Hermione replied, a little less confident than before.

Her mum sighed, "I wondered if our reaction to your decision to protect us the way you did was the reason we never see you anymore," she paused as tears came into her eyes, "Hermione honey we over reacted. We didn't see the entire scope of what it was that was going on in your world. We aren't mad anymore, but we are sad that we don't get to see our only daughter."

Hermione's eyes filled quickly with tears as she gave her mum a hug, "You have no idea how great it feels that you don't resent me anymore."

"Honey we could never resent you, we were just a little unnerved that's all," the kettle went off, interrupting their conversation, "now enough of this, it's time to put this behind us. Let's go see what those boys are up to."

Suddenly her mum had turned back into the loving mother that Hermione had known all those years growing up and Hermione smiled and agreed.

As they went back into the living room Charlie stood up right away breaking his conversation with her Dad when he saw the tears in her eyes.

He walked over to her and took her hand, "You okay Mi? You look upset."

Hermione chuckled, loving the attention he gave her, "Yes I'm fine, just a long overdue conversation." She met eyes with her mum and they moved back to the couch.

"So, what have you two been up to?" Her mum inquired.

Charlie went a little unnaturally quiet, eyes a bit wide, and thankfully Hermione's dad answered, "Oh we were just talking about his work."

Hermione choked a little on her tea and looked at Charlie who then added, "Yeah, flobberworms are a shockingly interesting creature."

Hermione smiled at him and took his hand. He winked and they continued their visit.

A few hours later they were invited to stay for dinner and accepted. They decided to go back to Romania after dinner, even though it would make considerably later there because of the time difference. Charlie wanted Hermione to be able to spend sometime with her parents so the sacrifice was not a hard one to make.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Thanks for the continued support... this story is almost finished, probably only another 3 or 4 chapters... so enjoy!

disclaimer: i own nothing...

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Once they arrived back in Romania they were both exhausted and they went straight to Hermione's tent as it was closer.

"Thank you for today Charlie," Hermione smiled at him, "It was so nice to be able to spend time with my parents again without worrying that they hated me or were scared of me."

"We all need our families Mi, it's important to have relationships with the people you care about. If you ever want to go visit again just let me know, I really like them and I love hearing all those stories about when you were little," Charlie chuckled and gave her a quick kiss. Hermione shared his grin and they got ready for bed.

As they lay in bed that night Charlie asked Hermione quietly and thoughtfully, "Do you ever think about the future Mi?"

Hermione smiled into the dark, "Of course, don't you?"

"Yeah, I was just wondering if you see me in yours," Charlie said this with more confidence then he had.

Hermione turned to kiss him and whispered, "To be honest I can't really imagine a future without you in it."

Charlie loved her reply and said simply, "good."

Giggling a little, Hermione asked, "That's all I get? Don't I get to know if you dream of a future with me in it?"

Charlie smiled as he moved his hands up and down her arms, "Mi all I ever think about these days is a future with you," he paused and kissed the top of her head, "I want a bunch of little Hermione's running around and a big house to call our own, and I want to not let our daughters date until they're thirty, and I want to give my sons the best flying lessons they could imagine."

Hermione had a tear running down her face, through her smile, "only the sons for flying lessons?"

"Oh no I'll give them to my daughters too, as long as they don't take after their mum's fear of flying," Charlie chortled.

Hermione hit his chest softly and playfully and then said, "You really want all that?"

"Mi, of course I do," Charlie whispered, "I've never been more serious about anything in my entire life."

Feeling totally content, they both eased off to sleep, knowing they only had a few hours before they had to get up to work.

**A couple months later, mid July**

The past two months had been amazing. Charlie and Hermione had now officially started living in Charlie's tent together, having gave up Hermione's tent to a new keeper on the site and they couldn't be happier.

After the talk they'd had the night after the visit to her parents' house, the subjects of marriage and children had come up a lot and they never really shied away from discussing all the things they wanted to do together. They hadn't gone as far as naming their unborn children or anything, but they had been talking about buying a house close enough to the reserve to be able to just apparate to work every morning.

It was mid July when Arthur Weasley's patronus came into camp and announced that Ginny was having the baby. Dropping everything, Charlie and Hermione arranged for a portkey right away and arrived at St. Mungo's.

Hours later, Hermione and Ron's Godson arrived in the world. James Sirius Potter looked just like his father but had Ginny's eyes, an adorable baby. Charlie and Hermione stayed for a few days and found out that Ron's wife, Mandy was expecting, Fleur was expecting again, and Angelina as well; there would be plenty of Weasley's going through Hogwarts in the years to come and Hermione secretly hoped that she would be able to add to the bunch as well.

A few weeks after they had arrived back in Romania, Charlie and Hermione found out that the temperamental Horntail that had been delivered a few months ago was about to give birth and so they prepared.

The day was August 16th, and the Horntail was particularly feisty while in labour. Charlie was in charge of the team as they tried to help the dragon have a safe birth.

"Okay, Matty, Robbie, Brandt and Sam, can you guys watch the back end? Mi, Chris, Derk, you guys take the front and me and Arnett will try and get this egg out without it breaking."

They each followed Charlie's instructions, having done this before none were too nervous although this dragon was considerably more aggressive than the rest. Plus she might think they were trying to steal the egg which would make her go really wild even though they were just trying to help her give birth. She had been injured during the war and so a thing like popping an egg out wasn't as simple for her as it was for other dragons.

Everything was going smoothly and the egg was almost out when the Horntail reacted to the team. The egg came out the rest of the way and before anyone knew it, a streak of red was flying threw the air. Charlie's hair caught everyones eye as he was tossed high into the air; the Horntail had kicked him with its back leg. Trying to avoid a panic, the rest of the team tried to secure the area, while Hermione and John ran to where Charlie lay, at least twenty feet away.

Hermione rushed up to him and pointed her wand at him, _"enervate"_, she said loudly and Charlie awoke, screaming in pain.

"Charlie, Charlie, you need to calm down and tell me where it hurts baby," Hermione was trying to keep calm, but it was hard when the man you love was laying on the ground bleeding and screaming.

"I think it's my back," Charlie moaned out, "it hurts like crazy."

Hermione quickly conjured a stretcher for him and levitated him onto it. By the time they got to the medical ward of the reserve Charlie had passed out from the pain and Hermione was crying. Suddenly everything they had been planning, the months of talking about their future together, it felt like it was slipping from her grasp. Everything she had wanted so badly was now a question, not a certainty. The pain of that hit her so hard she could hardly breath, and the other keepers were trying to keep her from collapsing as they sat in the room waiting to hear how Charlie was.

A few hours later the healer on site came out and told them that although Charlie had fractured a vertebrae in his back when he fell and cut himself up rather badly, besides a bit of scarring and some pain for a month or so he would be okay.

Relief flooded Hermione and she ran into see him as soon as she could stand.

When she entered the room she saw Charlie laying in a slightly awkward position, obviously in pain and approached him slowly. She took his hand and kissed him softly, then whispered in his ear, "Oh baby I was so scared," she shuddered.

"I'm okay Mi, it's just going to take a month or so before I'm back on form."

So many thoughts went through her head she couldn't control it, 'what if something worse had happened?' and 'what if this happens again?' were at the forefront and although she knew that working with dragons was dangerous, she hadn't ever really imagined a situation that would hurt either of them this badly.

As if he read her mind Charlie gripped her hand tighter and told her to look at him, she complied and he told her, "Mi don't think for one second that this is going to stop us from having everything we want together. Don't worry about me I'm only staying here the night and then you can take care of me for the next month while I get better."

Charlie smiled and Hermione chuckled through her tears, "Oh lucky me!"

"I love you Mi," Charlie nodded his head signally her to come closer, "I'd like to kiss you right now but its a bit difficult. You're going to have to do most of the work."

She laughed and kissed him, "I love you too."

The rest of the team came in to check on Charlie and the room was suddenly full of laughter. After a long time, it seemed like hours, the rest of the crew left and Hermione carefully got into bed with Charlie.

"I better not be hurting you or I'll never forgive myself," Hermione mused with a serious tone.

"Don't worry Mi the only thing that would truly hurt me would be spending a night away from you," Charlie kissed the top of her head and she told him to rest. He closed his eyes and fell asleep quickly- tired from their eventful day.

Hermione lay with her head on his chest for a few minutes thinking about everything that had happened with Charlie when she realized that they hadn't spent one night apart, or day apart, since they had gotten together in March. She smiled at the thought and kissed his chest then fell into a slightly uneasy sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Hey sorry this update took so long, i was out of town all weekend... read and review... and ENJOY!

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When Charlie was released from the hospital the next day Hermione took him straight back to their tent and insisted he stay off his feet. He could still walk but it was a tad painful. Fortunately the potion they'd given him would help his body repair his back in no time and then he'd probably just have stiff muscles for a while until he started exercising again.

A few weeks later Hermione was helping him put his shirt on, even though he probably could've done it himself. As much as Hermione didn't want to admit it, the last few weeks of taking care of Charlie had been kind of fun. She really did enjoy being there for him, and although he was restless and wanted to go play with the dragons as he put it, he was actually being a fairly good patient.

Charlie, meanwhile, had been soaking up all the extra attention Hermione had been giving him. It was the only thing that kept his mind occupied while he was taking it easy, and then he realized that it was definitely time to 'seal the deal.'

In the early days of September Charlie decided to tell Hermione that he had to go and meet a man in Diagon Alley about funding the reserve and that he'd be gone the whole day, that would give him enough time to find the perfect engagement ring. She was sad that she couldn't come but she was needed at the camp so he left early one morning and didn't return until late that night.

"So how was your day?" Hermione asked after they'd eaten.

"It went really well actually," Charlie smiled, a mischievous look in his eye, "really well. How was everything here?"

"Oh it was great, except I hate it when John's in charge, he kind of power trips. At least with you here even when you're not working he doesn't do that," Hermione trailed off and then grinned, realizing the date, "Hey you can start again tomorrow!"

"Yeah I know I met with Healer Clemmons before I came in here and she said that my back is all better. But you know we're taking a few days off next week right?"

Hermione wondered for a second why and couldn't remember, "Why are we doing that?"

"Well someone is turning 25 next week, and we are going to go and celebrate with my family and your family for a few days, I already owled them," Charlie said, lying a little considering he'd dropped by her parents house after buying a ring to ask about her birthday, and hoped she liked the idea.

Hermione gave him a hug, "Thanks, that's so wonderful! We'll get to see little James!"

A week later, two days before her birthday, Hermione and Charlie were eating a romantic dinner one night when Charlie suggested they go for a walk after dinner, Hermione agreed and they strolled through camp in the moonlight. Hermione was so caught up in the conversation of the new baby Horntail that she hadn't really noticed that she had no idea where they were. Once she realized the unfamiliarity of her surrounds, she stopped walking.

"Charlie where are we?" she asked as she stopped.

"Just a little place I know, its right through these trees," Charlie smiled, tugging her hand in the direction he'd pointed. He was about to show Hermione a place he'd been coming to since he first Arrived in Romania, almost twelve years ago. It was a private place that he'd found when he was wandering around lonely one night and he had been saving it right for this occasion. He hadn't been back in a while before today because it was a place he went when he was feeling down, something that Hermione had basically completely taken care of when she'd come into his life.

As the moonlight started to cut through the trees Charlie told Hermione to stop walking and pulled out his wand to cast a quick spell to put a blindfold over her eyes.

"Charlie Weasley what are you up to?" said Hermione playfully, smiling and loving every second of the mystery.

"Just trying to impress a girl I know." He took her hands and led her gently through the clearing and arrived at the edge of the forest, fifteen feet away from a cliff. There was a perfect view of the moon reflecting on the lake a couple hundred feet below and a bench to sit on that Charlie had conjured up years ago.

He carefully guided Hermione into sitting down and asked her if she was ready.

"Of course!" Hermione said excitedly, feeling the gentle breeze on her face and wondering where they had ended up. He removed the blindfold and her jaw dropped in awe of the picture she'd walked into.

"Charlie this is amazing! Why have you never brought me here before?"

Charlie smiled, glad he got that reaction and instead of sitting down next to her, he knelt down in front of her and pulled something out of his pocket.

"Well I was saving it for a really special occasion," Charlie smiled when he saw Hermione's face.

"oh," was all Hermione could get out as her eyes started to fill with tears.

"Hermione, I love you totally and completely. You make me the best possible person I could ever be and for that I'm forever in your debt. You are the most amazing person I have ever known and everyday I get to find out something new about you that I love. I want that forever Mi, I want to make you as happy as you've made me and care for you like you've cared for me. I want the kids and the house and the life together and I want it all with you. So, Hermione Granger, my sexy, intelligent, wildcat of a dragon tamer," Charlie chuckled and Hermione giggled through her tears, "baby will you marry me?"

Hermione kissed him so hard he fell over backwards and then she just screamed, "YES YES YES YES YES!!!!" Now comfortably lying on top of Charlie on the ground in front of the bench, she took a deep breath and kissed him again.

Laughing at her enthusiasm, he put the ring on her finger and told her, "Now we have something to tell our families when we see them on your birthday."

They romped around snogging each other senseless for awhile until they decided it was late and they had better go to bed. Sleep wasn't a big part of that night, but they weren't tired the next day. Exhaustion just didn't apply in the little world they were living in, only pure bliss did.

After running around through the reserve and telling absolutely everybody that they were engaged, they started packing for their visits. They were going to Hermione's parent's house first for the night and then spending the day with them until going to the Burrow for dinner and staying the night there.

Hermione wasted absolutely no time when they arrived at the Granger's house. She bolted down up the driveway and ran inside without bothering to knock and yelled for her parents, the second she saw them she announced at full volume, "WE'RE ENGAGED!"

Her dad and mum gave her a big hug while Charlie walked through the door. They were both congratulated and when he shook Charlie's hand her Dad said, "Took you long enough! We talked about this ages ago."

Hermione looked surprised and then the realization that Charlie had wanted to visit her parents in May for this reason hit her.

**Flashback**

Hermione and her mum went into the kitchen and Charlie wasted no time.

"Sir I know that you just met me and that you don't know me at all and I know that you have probably formulated an opinion of me already since the second we got in the door but I love your daughter more than anything and I want to marry her but I want your blessing first," somehow Charlie got it all out in one breath and was a bit surprised that her dad had basically no reaction.

"Are you financially viable?" her dad asked, leaning back into his chair, as if pondering the situation.

Charlie had no idea if he was serious but the second he opened his mouth to answer her dad started laughing and leaned back forward, "Don't worry son, from the second you walked in here I could tell that I'd be seeing a lot of you. Of course you can marry her, just make her happy."

Charlie grinned and eagerly shook his hand, "Thank you sir I-" He stopped talking and went over to Hermione when she walked into the room looking upset.

He walked over to her and took her hand, "You okay Mi? You look upset."

Hermione chuckled, loving the attention he gave her, "Yes I'm fine, just a long overdue conversation." She met eyes with her mum and they moved back to the couch.

"So, what have you two been up to?" Her mum inquired.

**End of Flashback**

"You sneak!" she said laughing and kissed him. Her parents laughed with them and they all moved into the living room.

A couple hours later it was dinner time and then after some long conversations about creatures considerably less dangerous than dragons, it was time for bed. Hermione caught herself suddenly wondering if her parents would let them stay in the same room- they never slept without each other- but her parents were usually fairly strict when it came to rules like sleeping arrangements.

Before her thoughts got any further her mum walked in to the room and said, "Okay you two, you're staying in Mione's old room. Don't worry honey your dad put your stuff up there earlier."

Hermione was surprised at her parent's acceptance of her adult relationship and realized her mum had probably been working on her dad for days to let her do this.

"Okay mum, thanks," she smiled at her mum and took Charlie's hand to guide him upstairs. As they passed her mum Hermione gave her mum a quick kiss on the cheek and whispered in her ear, "Seriously mum thanks."

Her mum smiled in response and then Charlie said goodnight, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek too. She blushed a little, not used to any kind of affection from men that weren't her husband and said goodnight.

Hermione held Charlie's hand all the way up the stairs and opened the door to her room; it was a relaxing shade of green, similar to the colour of Charlie's eyes and the walls were lined with full bookshelves and pictures of her Hogwarts days.

Charlie laughed, "Okay tell me that you didn't purposely paint your room my eye colour- I love you and all but marrying my stalker is not what I signed on for."

Hermione laughed in return and assured him, "No no, it's been like this since I was twelve or thirteen- much too young for you then!"

They laughed at the irony that as a little girl she had picked a colour that was so similar to the eyes of the love of her life and then got ready for bed.

"So when do you want to get married?" Hermione asked a little bit shyly.

"As soon as we can, I don't want to wait any longer to start this life with you," Charlie answered quickly, assuring her there was nothing to be shy about.

Hermione smiled, "Okay well how about after we hangout with your family tomorrow night we invite my parents to the Burrow the next day and we can plan out the wedding with our parents together, and probably Ginny." Hermione laughed, knowing that Ginny would absolutely have to be apart of planning her wedding, she would see to it.

"That sounds perfect," Charlie replied as he got into bed and added, "How do you feel about a winter wedding?"

Hermione laughed and climbed in next to him, "That's perfect, and I think I know just the place."

"Do you?" Charlie teased.

"Of course, I know everything don't I?" Hermione replied playfully.

"Do you want to have it at the Burrow, or in Romania?"

"I was thinking we could have a small ceremony, just our families, on the hilltop where we got engaged," Hermione answered as she started kissing his neck.

He groaned a little and replied, "That will be easy to plan too!"

"Yeah, and we can have the ceremony there and then arrange a portkey to take us back to the Burrow for the reception, that way everybody wins!" By this point Charlie couldn't concentrate the way he should've been able to for such a conversation, he was distracted by the attention Hermione was now giving his chest.

Charlie quickly cast a silencing and an impenetrable charm on the door and made quick work of Hermione's pyjamas. She giggled and whispered, while she eagerly continued her journey down his stomach, "I can't wait to tell everyone else tomorrow."

Charlie smiled at her and said quietly, "If I had known that asking you to marry me was going to make you want me this much every night I would've done it a long time ago."

She laughed and an hour or so later they fell asleep in each others arms.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Okay... so i think this is the second to last chapter... the last chapter i will post tomorrow... i know this fic is fluffy and stuff, but it really is exactly what i felt like reading at the time i wrote it... hence why it is so fluffy. i hope you've all enjoyed it...

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The next morning Charlie and Hermione woke up surprisingly early, and assumed it was because they were still on Romanian time. They quickly got ready for the day and went downstairs to join her parents for breakfast.

About halfway down the stairs Hermione stopped suddenly and caused Charlie to walk right into her back. Laughing at getting the result she had desired from stopping suddenly, she ran down the rest of the stairs to get away from him but he was too quick and grabbed her by the waist at the bottom. He hoisted her up on his shoulder and carried her into the kitchen while she smacked his bum trying to get him to put her down.

Entering the kitchen, Charlie saw the look of shock on her parents faces, and he put her down and went a bit red. Hermione laughed and greeted her parents.

At the breakfast table Hermione couldn't really take her eyes off of Charlie. He wasn't as tall as the rest of the Weasley men, but he was still almost six feet tall, his red hair not as vibrant as the rest, instead a slightly darker, more masculine tone to it that suited his personality. His eyes were green and he was very tanned unlike the rest of his family. He had a few small scars all over the place, including a small one just above his eyebrow that made him look a bit dangerous. His shoulders were broad, much broader than his brothers, and he was much more muscular than them as well. Years of dragon training had done him well- he was in amazing shape.

Hermione realized she'd been staring at him with a dopey smile on her face for a few minutes when the conversations around her stopped and she went red to find that her parents and Charlie were all looking at her as if they'd been trying to get her attention for minutes.

Charlie laughed out loud when he saw her blush, "Wow Mi you really DO love me," he mused.

Her parents laughed and she just chuckled a long, "sorry," then regained her composure and asked what they'd been talking about.

"Oh we were just asking Charlie how he proposed," her mum replied.

Hermione smiled and locked eyes with him, then her mum continued, "Charlie was just describing the beautiful view of the moon and lake when you got caught up in an entirely different view."

They all laughed again and Hermione said, "Well don't worry because you'll get to see it."

Her dad asked what she meant so she explained, "Well last night Charlie and I were talking about when and where we wanted to get married and we decided we didn't really want to wait very long so we're doing it this winter, on that very hilltop with only family in attendance," she paused and added," although I guess that's still kind of a lot for those Weasley's." Hermione added the last part with a wink to Charlie.

"Yeah we actually were wondering if you both were free tomorrow." Charlie asked.

Her parents looked at each other and couldn't think of anything, "Well nothing comes to mind so it can't be important, what would you like us to do tomorrow?"

"We were wondering if you wanted to come to the Burrow. I know my mum will want to start planning the wedding right away and me and Mi want you guys to have as much input as possible as well," Charlie answered.

Hermione's mum was visibly pleased about finally being let into her daughter's seemingly secretive life, "Of course we'll be there," she paused then asked how to get to the Burrow.

Hermione laughed, "Oh don't worry, we'll just apparate back here tomorrow around noon and we can use side-along apparition to bring you back, it's much cleaner and easier than floo powder."

The plans were set and so they spent the rest of the day until about 3pm just catching up and enjoying each others company. Hermione realized the time and told Charlie that they'd better be off and assured her parent's they'd be back the next day to pick them both up for wedding planning.

Charlie and Hermione apparated from her bedroom to just outside the Burrow. When they arrived she turned to him and told him, "Okay, after we tell everyone and once it's calmed down and everything we have to make sure that no one says anything about us working restrictively with dragons tomorrow."

Charlie smiled and agreed and they went towards the door. He stopped just before it, took her hands and asked her if she was ready. She nodded and kissed him and they walked inside holding hands, both grinning like fools.

Molly was standing in the kitchen with Arthur and Ginny when they walked in, hand in hand. They all greeted Hermione with Happy Birthdays and hello's and Hermione glanced at Charlie with urgency in her eyes, wanting permission to share with his family the news, he smiled and nodded, and suddenly she screamed, "WE'RE ENGAGED!"

Suddenly everything was a red frenzy. Hugs were being given and congratulations were said.

"We were going to wait until dinner tonight to tell everyone at once but since you three are here, and since Hermione has no self control with this news, she seems to be screaming at everyone I guess the time was now," Charlie laughed and put his arm around Hermione who glanced up and laughed at him.

"Mrs. Weasley my parents are going to come over tomorrow around noon to start planning the wedding, I assumed you'd like to help," Hermione paused, noticing the look on Ginny's face, "and of course you too Ginny."

Molly and Ginny started talking right away but Hermione cut in, "Okay no planning for today, the only thing we know today is that it will be this winter, it will be on the gorgeous cliff where Charlie proposed, it will be family only, and the reception will be back here at the Burrow if that's okay with you."

They were both delighted, and a little worried about throwing a wedding together so quickly but promised not to plan anything else out until Hermione's parents were there too.

Dinner that night was just like old times. Once it was announced to everyone that Hermione and Charlie were getting married the room seemed to light up with excitement. Charlie asked Bill to be his best man; Ginny secured her spot as maid of honour and it was decided then also that they wouldn't have ushers or bridesmaids because that would put the entire family in the ceremony.

After dinner mostly everyone went home, Ginny, Harry and their son James decided to stay since Ginny would be needed the next day for wedding planning, but all the pregnant ladies wanted to go home and their husbands obliged.

Charlie and Hermione were sitting in the living room talking in hushed voices when Ginny and Harry walked in, a sleeping James in Harry's arms.

"Hey Mione," Harry started, "How about you spend some quality time with your godson while I take his mum out for a drink?"

Hermione jumped up and agreed at once, very enthusiastically, and took James into her arms. Harry and Ginny went out leaving Charlie and Hermione sitting on the couch watching the baby sleep. After a couple hours Ginny and Harry returned and walked into the living room to find Hermione laying against Charlie, holding James safely to her chest, all three of them asleep. They quietly snuck out of the room and grabbed Molly, Arthur and a camera.

When they all came back to the room nothing had changed so a few pictures of the adorable scene were taken as Molly's eyes welled up.

"I can't wait for them to have babies!" Molly said in barely a whisper.

They all smiled at the sight before them; a very unlikely couple but now a couple that made so much sense it was ridiculous.

A few minutes later James got a bit restless and Hermione woke up right away and started talking to him quietly, not noticing they had company. Charlie woke up too and they smiled at each other then down at the baby, and both tried to get him back to sleep.

After a few more seconds Hermione looked away from Charlie and James and realized they'd had an audience. Her face didn't go red; instead she just casually greeted everyone.

"We just took a few pictures of you all sleeping, they're adorable you'll love it," Molly said.

Charlie rolled his eyes at his mother, knowing that she was busy naming his and Hermione's future children and Ginny took James out of Hermione's arms, "Thanks for watching him guys."

"No problem Gin, I wish I could do it more but being so far away I feel like a bad godmother," Hermione joked, with an edge of seriousness.

Charlie kissed her temple and the family decided it was time to go to bed. Charlie brought their stuff upstairs and Ginny said goodnight to James before Harry left the room to put him to bed.

"So have you two talked about children?" Ginny said not even trying to hide her desire to know the answer.

"Well we are getting married, so yes we have discussed our future together if that's what you mean," Hermione replied somewhat evasively.

Ginny smiled, knowing that Hermione and Charlie would both never admit to having an entire future planned out down to the name of their children even if they did.

"Are you two going to stay in Romania after you get married?"

Hermione hesitated, "Well our jobs are there, and our lives aside from family. I guess it just makes sense to."

Ginny nodded, somewhat disappointed.

"It sucks not being able to see you all the time Hermione, even after all these years it's hard to get used to."

"I know, it can get hard, but at least now when we do see each other we won't have to say we're LIKE sisters anymore, we can just tell people we are sisters," Hermione giggled, trying to lighten the conversation.

Ginny giggled too, "So how was your summer?"

Hermione explained that Charlie had gotten injured and that she'd taken care of him and how it had brought them closer together. Ginny was a bit upset that his family wasn't even told of his injury but she knew that Hermione had taken good care of him and that if it had been more serious they would've been told.

After catching up with Ginny they made their way up the stairs and said their goodnights and snuck into the rooms where their significant others were sleeping. Hermione tried to be quiet and started getting change for bed when Charlie broke her concentration.

"I'm still awake Mi."

Hermione laughed, "Good I don't want to kill myself trying to find my stuff in the dark."

Charlie laughed too and replied, "How about you don't worry about clothes?"

Hermione giggled and sealed the door and put a silencing charm on it then moved over to the bed to find that Charlie was already completely naked.

"A bit confident aren't you? What if I'd said I wasn't in the mood?" Hermione teased.

"When have you ever said that to me Mi?" Charlie shot back. She laughed and agreed while hopping into bed.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Hey Guys... This is the end!!! This ending isn't the best ending for a lot of people i'm sure, but its the one i wanted to write. Thank you for all of your kind reviews and thank you for reading this story, it was a true pleasure to write it. Enjoy!

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The next morning Hermione woke up before Charlie and smiled because they were still naked and wrapped up in each other from the night they'd had before. She knew that she'd never get tired of waking up on her lovers chest. Smiling as she thought of spending the rest of her life with Charlie, she started kissing his neck and when he woke up they picked up where they'd left off the night before.

They heard Ginny calling for them just after they'd finished and decided to get up and ready for the day so they could go and retrieve her parents so they could all start planning out their wedding together.

Just after noon, Charlie, Hermione, the Grangers, Molly, Arthur and Ginny were all sitting in the kitchen at the Burrow planning the wedding. The first thing to decide on was the date.

Hermione smiled down at Charlie as she sat on his lap with his arms wrapped around her waist, "what do you think babe? Early or late December?"

"Early," Charlie replied quickly, "but my birthday is the twelfth so we have to avoid that."

"What about the 10th?" Ginny suggested

Charlie and Hermione looked at each other and nodded, and then the date was set; Charlie and Hermione would be married December 10th. The families spent the rest of the day doing the other wedding plans, including making dates to go pick out dresses and tuxes, but overall the plans themselves didn't take very long considering that it would only be family in attendance. Ginny and Molly insisted on taking care of everything for the reception with Hermione's okay on colours and themes so that Charlie and Hermione could put everything together in Romania for the actual ceremony itself. Hermione knew it wouldn't take long and figured she'd just get the right decorations she needed and them cast a few spells to do everything quickly on the day.

Overall their trip went by very quickly and although they were still on a high of getting engaged, they were suddenly even more excited about getting the vows out of the way and becoming husband and wife.

After they went back to Romania the next day, time seemed to fly by. Suddenly it was October and Hermione went to the Burrow for a day without Charlie to go dress shopping with Ginny and to pick out the tuxes, so that when she returned Charlie could go the next day to get everything fitted and then all the planning for their wedding was finished.

When she arrived outside the Burrow she could hear many voices within and walking inside excited to see everyone. She was welcomed with hugs and was then immediately questioned about her pending nuptials.

"Okay Mione, you can be honest, are you nervous?" Ginny said, clearly trying her hardest to get the truth from Hermione.

Hermione smiled, seeing the looks of curiosity on Molly and Ginny's faces and replied honestly, "Actually I can't wait. I'm tired of waiting. I just want Charlie to be my husband already so we can do everything else we want to do together."

Molly smiled at her response, "everything else you want to do together? Does this mean I'll have more grandchildren soon?"

Hermione went a bit red, "Well, not immediately, but definitely eventually," she smiled as Molly grinned like a fool and decided to change the subject, "Gin are you ready to go? I figured that we could go and pick up my mom and that maybe Molly you could come too if you want to."

Molly was very happy to be included in helping select Hermione's wedding dress, and after they stopped to pick up Mrs. Granger, they all went to a wedding boutique in Diagon Alley.

After four dresses that other people had picked out that Hermione hadn't particularly liked, she saw one she loved and put it on right away. The second it was zipped up she new that it was the right dress. It wasn't too insane with elegance, or sexiness, but it was a perfect blend of the two that was appropriate for a cliff side wedding. The girls all got very giddy after seeing Hermione is such an amazing dress, and so they decided to go for ice cream as a celebration once they'd picked out the right tuxes and taken care of any other wedding planning they had to do.

That night Hermione went back to Romania and found Charlie had fallen asleep reading on their couch. She carefully took the book out of his hands and levitated him to bed and put his pajamas on. Seconds after she'd gotten into bed he rolled over and put his arm around her, acting on instinct as he was very obviously asleep. Hermione smiled at his response and relaxed in his arms, dreaming of their wedding day.

One night in late November, Charlie and Hermione were having hot chocolate by the bewitched fire in their tent and reading a book together curled up on a couch when Charlie opened up a relatively new conversation.

"How long do you want to wait after we get married to have kids?"

Hermione was a bit startled but hoped it wasn't obvious, "Wow you didn't even try to segue that one did you?" Charlie laughed a little and waited for her reply, "I never really thought about it to be honest. I mean, I know that I want lots of kids with you and I know that we're okay financially to have a lot of kids, but we also live in a tent right now on a dragon reserve, it's not exactly an ideal child environment."

Charlie got a bit upset at this, "you mean you want to leave the reserve to have kids? You want us to leave our jobs?" he didn't mean to sound so accusatory when he said it but that's how it came out.

Hermione sat up and looked at him, "Okay, you need to relax. I never said that. All I said was that having little kids on a dragon reserve and living in a tent didn't seem like a good idea. I was thinking we should buy a house or something in close enough range to apparate."

Charlie took a deep breath, "Sorry, I was just scared for a second, I didn't mean to snap."

"Its okay baby, I know how upset you'd be if you ever had to leave our dragons," Hermione kissed his cheek. Charlie sat in thought for a few moments and a realization dawned on him.

"It would kind of be nice to be closer to home when we have kids though wouldn't it? For them too, to grow up with their cousins and with family around all the time," Charlie said, sort of surprised at his own words.

"What are you suggesting Charlie?"

"Well maybe we should move within floo and apparition distance of the Burrow and to your parent's house once we start having kids."

"But that would mean leaving Romania," Hermione was surprised at Charlie's sudden change of tune.

"I know that we'll never be able to work with as many dragons or the same variety of dragons anywhere else, but maybe to be around family it would be worth it. I mean even if we take a pay cut we have way more than enough money saved to be very comfortable forever."

"Charlie do you seriously want to leave this place?" Hermione was definitely surprised to hear of Charlie's new attitude.

"It's not that I want to leave Mi, I really love it here, I just wish we were closer to our family."

Hermione nodded, she had to admit she felt the same way, she just didn't think Charlie did.

"How long do you want to wait until we have kids?"

"Mi, I want kids with you like yesterday," Charlie replied.

Hermione giggled, and then regained her seriousness, "Wow I guess this is actually going to be a big decision. I don't want you to resent me or our kids if we leave this place Charlie."

"Hermione you mean way more to me than dragons do and our kids will too. I've had twelve wonderful years here and I'm sure there are other jobs that we can do to do with dragons closer to home, maybe its just time to look into our options. We're getting married really soon, and that's going to be here as it should be, because this place brought us together, but we can always come back here and visit too."

Hermione sighed, "I kind of like just having this place all to ourselves. Romania feels like our own little universe, I'll miss that if we leave."

"Yeah I know what you mean, but just because we move closer to home it doesn't mean we have to go to England," Charlie replied.

Hermione's brain suddenly clicked in, "CHARLIE! THAT'S IT! We can go to Ireland! There's a relatively large dragon reserve there too! It's not as big as here, but it's bigger than the one outside of London and it'll be way closer to the family, and it will still be our own. Maybe we could even just buy it and make it bigger than it is now. We'd have the funds to do it."

Charlie smiled and was amazed at her ability to make every situation perfect. He then told her that he'd owl the reserve in Ireland in the morning to see if there were any openings available for a couple of fully trained dragon keepers, or if they place itself was available to buy. It would be strange not to be in Romania, but he knew that some things in life are truly more important.

Suddenly November ended and it was December 9th, the night before the wedding. The family was coming out on the day of the way by portkey, a few hours before sunset and then they'd all head back together once the wedding was over.

Hermione was a bit nervous for her parents to see the reserve, and hoped it wouldn't be too obvious that they basically played with dragons all the time. Charlie seemed to be able to tell that she was a bit nervous, but once she reassured him that it was entirely to do with her parents and that she hadn't doubted for one second that he was the man she was going to marry, he relaxed.

Once everyone arrived outside Charlie and Hermione's tent, Charlie took Molly, Ginny and Arthur through the woods to show them where to decorate while Hermione got ready. An hour or so later he returned and got ready himself and they all, except Hermione and her father, apparated (some side-along), back to the cliff.

The sun was going down and reflected a beautiful pinkish-orange glow off the water of the lake below. Charlie was standing at the alter with Bill to his right and turned around to see Ginny walking down the aisle holding flowers. Once she got to the front and took her place by what would eventually be Hermione left, a "POP" was heard and there stood Hermione, linked arms with her father at the end of the aisle. A tune was conjured by George as soon as Hermione and her father had arrived at the end of the aisle, and they walked down the aisle slowly towards the alter.

Charlie's stomach dropped, Hermione looked absolutely astounding. Bill whispered in his ear that his mouth looks better closed but he barely pulled it together by the time Hermione had arrived at the alter and in front of him. He took her hand in his and they stood in front of all their loved ones, completely lost in each other's eyes.

As they said their vows, a few tears of joy were heard through out the small audience, and Hermione had a single tear running down her cheek. Charlie wiped it away gently with his thumb, ignoring the tears starting to form in his own eyes and remained totally entranced by his beautiful bride.

The vows were over quickly and he was very excited to kiss the bride. He moved towards her and before he kissed her he put his hand on his face and whispered so no one else could hear, "You look more gorgeous today than ever before."

Hermione smiled and they sealed their vows while their family cheered for them. After a few more minutes of congratulations the wedding party took a portkey back to the Burrow where a celebration was waiting.

When Charlie and Hermione arrived in the backyard of the Burrow the entire place was decorated beautifully with a large sign saying "Congratulations Charlie and Hermione" floating in the air through the crowd with confetti dazzling around it.

There was laughter and cheer as the wedding reception began and Charlie and Hermione were called to the dance floor for their first dance as a married couple. Charlie took Hermione's hand and led her to the floor as the song "If We Kissed" came on.

_What would happen if we kissed?  
Would your tongue slip past my lips?  
Would you run away?  
Would you stay?  
Or would I melt into you?  
Mouth to mouth, lust to lust,  
Spontaneously combust…_

Hermione smiled at the song choice, "Did you pick this song for a reason Mr. Weasley?"

"You know I did, Mrs. Weasley," Charlie replied and kissed her softly, "This is the song we danced to the night I knew for sure that you were the one for me Mi."

"God you're perfect," Hermione giggled a little and kissed him again, then placed her head gently on his chest.

"So I got a letter back from Ireland a few days ago…"

This got Hermione's attention, "And?"

"And they have some positions available that I told them we'd take, and the owner and current boss is retiring in a few years so we could probably buy it then."

Hermione smiled and kissed him, "Does anyone else know?"

"Well I told John because he'll be in charge in Romania now, and the person I bought a huge piece of land in Ireland from yesterday knows," Charlie said casually, loving keeping Hermione guessing.

"A piece of land?" Hermione questioned.

"Well I thought we could build a house there. It's overlooking some gorgeous cliffs onto the ocean, you're going to love it," he said with a grin.

Hermione basically jumped into his arms and he spun her around.

"Oh I guess I should be more careful," Hermione said mischievously.

Charlie raised his eyebrows, "and why is that?"

"Well I figured we could start trying for that big family of ours tonight and I'd hate for anything to happen to me before that."

Charlie smiled, "You know that you've made me basically the happiest man on the planet right?"

"Well not yet, but maybe after you see what I bought to wear tonight you will be," Hermione winked at him and he grinned.

The couple danced for a few more songs before sitting down with their family to share the news of moving closer. Everyone was ecstatic, and it was decided that the second they get back from their honeymoon that they would have to start on that house right away.

As the night wore on they all began to get tired and Charlie and Hermione decided to have a last dance before they took off for the night. On the dance floor, Charlie and Hermione locked eyes and knew they were both thinking the same thing; thank god sometimes life doesn't turn out how you plan.


End file.
